The purpose of SJR 34 (and HJR 86) was simple: To allow Internet Service Providers to collect and sell your Internet browsing history. Not only did Senator Dean Heller support this, he signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill on March 7, 2017, one of 23 sponsors to do so. Who's impacted by this? Anyone who links through Comcast (17 million customers), AT&T (another 17 million customers), Time Warner Cable (add another 14 million customers), Century Link (additional 6.4 million customers), Charter (another 5 million customers), and a host of smaller providers. [ 592 more words ]

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Let's start with the ASCE's report card on Nevada's infrastructure. The last report card on our kitchen table gives us an overall average C-. Nevada's two lowest grades (both D's) are in categories for schools and dams. The claims from the current White House administration would imply that Nevada will see marvelous levels of investment in Job Creating Infrastructure Projects. Not. [ 1,419 more word ]

https://desertbeacon.wordpress.com/…/infrastructure-funding…

What human beings are capable of doing to one another can be supremely egregious, but what we're capable of doing to the rest of the animal kingdom defies comprehension at times, and March 21, 2017 was one of those moments. The Senate of the United States of America voted in favor of HJR 69, otherwise known as the Cub and Pup Slaughter Bill, or more exquisitely politely the "non-subsistence take of wildlife in Alaskan wildlife refuges." For the record, Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) voted in favor of the bill, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto voted against it. [ 187 more words ]

https://desertbeacon.wordpress.com/…/cub-and-pup-slaughter-…

The 45 Administration would very much like to have Judge Gorsuch confirmed as a member of the US Supreme Court. The judge for his part has been loath the offer any more than Name, Rank, and Serial Number during his confirmation hearings. Not that this tactic is anything new in the process. Famous for his Hobby Lobby decision, his dissent in… [ 241 more words ]

https://desertbeacon.wordpress.com/…/gorsuchs-record-invite…

interesting reading

Should the Truoldtmpcare bill pass this evening, residents in the following Nevada Counties can expect changes in their premiums after tax credits: From $2400 to $3700 -- Humboldt, Elko, Pershing, Esmeralda, Lander, Churchill, Esmeralda, and Mineral counties. (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation)

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So, we have two sources telling us that approximately 24 to 26 million people will lose their health care insurance if the Republicans are successful in jamming through their tax shift proposal masquerading as a 'replacement' for the Affordable Care Act. Therefore, it's now time for a new 'talking point' from the GOP, especially since some Republicans like Rep. Mark Amodei are on record saying: [ 606 more words ]

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The Rachel Maddow Show this evening has an important segment on Russian interference in the 2016 election. If you can't see it via the regular broadcast, please use some of the workarounds available to see it. There are all manner of logical reasons to assume that the Russians employed 'weaponized' disinformation and 'bots' to exacerbate differences within the Democratic campaigns. If we're looking for the 'smoking gun' it's not in the report, but the Russian reaction to their efforts is telling in itself. They seem extraordinarily pleased with themselves. Please take a few moments to watch this informative piece, which is unfortunately only the beginning of the story.

One congressional Representative for our northern neighbor, Idaho, has a problem in his Lewiston office: Too many artful codgers showing up there around lunch time with complaints about his political philosophy. "A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador's office in Lewiston has filed a complaint alleging a threat from a group of local citizens who routinely visit congressional offices. [ 602 more words ]

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There was a Republican politician on my television screen this morning telling me, or trying to tell me, that Medicaid was "meant for mothers, children, and those who couldn't work..." This is outdated. Then, he tried to convince me that Medicaid was being "abused" by those who work and 'game the system,' while spouting platitudes about the Free Market and the Joys of Competition. [ 956 more words ]

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The proposed budget from the White House is a mean-spirited, minimal, and squalid picture of this administration's Ideal Government. That, after all, is the function of any budget -- the household budget is a plan for the ideal month or the ideal year for expenditures. So, if this is the administration's ideal state, it's pathetic. At bottom, it's a massive transfer of wealth from working Americans and small businesses, to the wealthy and multi-national corporations. [ 933 more words ]

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The entire "skinny budget," which somehow manages to keep lots of fat on the Pentagon budget, offered up by the current administration is a mass of mischaracterizations packed into a myriad of outright lies. The assault on programs like Meals on Wheels is a handle providing a way to understand the totality of the right wing Individualism of the GOP. It's there, blatantly set forth without excuse, and as emblematic of the Culture of Selfishness as can be imagined. [ 768 more words ]

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We might go for the Ryan budget bill in regard health insurance directly, but others have already noted that either (a) he doesn't have a clue how insurance works, or (b) he's trying to pull a fast one on the American public. At any rate, the phase I of the ACA repeal is essentially a gigantic giveaway to health insurance and pharmaceutical corporations, a tax boon to those in the upper 0.1% income bracket, and a dismantling of the Medicaid program. [ 605 more words ]

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Representative Mark Amodei (R-NV2) was pleased to spend his 2016 campaign season supporting the candidacy of one Donald J. Trump. Now that the campaign is over -- there are some pertinent questions the District 2 Representative might address should he ever have one of those 'town hall' things.Carter Page #1. Do the constituents in your district deserve a full and complete explication of the ties between the present administration and the Russian government, its agents, and its affiliated operatives? [ 323 more words ]

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The Republicans have catch phrases which have been very handy for their purposes for the last forty years, "burdensome regulations," are among them. Rarely do they want to identify upon whom the burden rests. Often they are fond of calling the regulations "job killing." Nearly always the "regulations" are amorphous, and highly generalized. Let's get specific. Senator Rob Portman will be introducing a bill which, in its present form, would limit the ability of federal agencies to promulgate rules until every last lawsuit against them is completely litigated. [ 482 more words ]

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